TORONTO: Girls with big breasts have a 68% higher chance of developing diabetes by middle age than their small-breasted counterparts, according to a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The decade-long study to find link between big breasts and diabetes development among nurses in the US shows that those with bigger breasts at 20 are at 68% higher risk of developing the disease in later years.

Joel Ray, professor of medicine at the University of Toronto and a clinician-scientist at the local St Michael’s Hospital, said this was “the broad conclusion” of his research team on the basis on the study that was published on Tuesday.

“Our findings are based on data from the Nurses Health Study II project in 14 American states. In a nutshell, 92,102 nurses were studied for link between their breast size and their chances of developing diabetes by the age of 35. The bigger their breasts are at the age of 20, the bigger their chances of developing diabetes,” Ray said.

However, Ray was quick to add that the breast size could be one of the factors, apart from smoking, family history,
diet and ethnicity that trigger diabetes in women.

“Obesity remains a big factor. Obese women tend to have larger breasts, thereby becoming more prone to diabetes,” he said.

From these findings, he said, it will be interesting to study how breast fat influences insulin resistance. Ray emphasized that their research was preliminary at this stage and should not be taken at its face value. Women should not think about breast surgeries to minimize their chances of developing diabetes.